I recently read an article on the Diva Marketing blog that focused on how good relationships should impact the bottom line. It references two other authors Rajesh and Geoff Livingston that have blogged about the subject of customer relationships. I really like how the article addresses this important issue because very often in this extremely competitive market, people seem to get extremely hung up on the concept of price. Do not get me wrong, I strongly know that price is important, however it good customer service should not be sacrificed just to save a couple pennies.
It is important for businesses to look at the lifetime value of a customer and therefore create a maintain a very good relationship to ensure they can benefit from all this value. Although this process may take longer, it is worth it in the end and results in a win-win for all sides. Even one customer was quoted in the article stating how in the long run the relationship with a business will save one more than just a lower price for right now. It was very refreshing to see many people heavily entrenched in the marketing world address what I believe to be a very important issue.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The discussion of relationships in business was talked about in my international marketing class last week and in it we discussed how technology (the internet and all) has taken a lot of personal interaction out of business deals and has made it harder to get a strong, reliable relationship with clients without the face to face and ending handshakes. I completely agree with you about the whole thing. Price is important but business is all about dealing with people and it seems like the world is kind of drifting away from that.
The new media environment is forcing relationships back into business. I think it's great. The early adopters are naturally inclined towards this, but slower businesses will pay a price for it. Just my $.02.
-Geoff
Post a Comment